Faculty Spotlight

Elizabeth G. Mietlicki-Baase, PhD

Elizabeth G. Mietlicki-Baase, PhD, began her faculty appointment
with the University at Buffalo in August of 2016.

“I find the study of the mesolimbic reward system interesting because it is relevant for food intake and other motivated behaviors, as well as changes in motivation that occur with conditions such as drug addiction.”

Elizabeth G. Mietlicki-Baase, Assistant Professor

Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences

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Elizabeth G. Mietlicki-Baase, PhD, is an assistant professor in
the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences. She joined the
faculty in August 2016 after earning a doctoral degree in
behavioral neuroscience at UB and completing postdoctoral training
at the University of Pennsylvania. Her predoctoral work examined
the neurohormonal systems governing both food and fluid intake. In
her postdoctoral research, Mietlicki-Baase investigated the
distributed neurobiological underpinnings of food intake and body
weight control, with particular emphasis on areas of the brain
thought to mediate reward processing and motivated behavior.

Now at UB, her current research interests build upon her
postdoctoral training and focus on the role of the mesolimbic
reward system of the brain in energy intake and food preference.
She received a 4-year career development grant from the National
Institute of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to examine the hormone amylin
and the role it plays in energy balance control via actions in the
mesolimbic reward system.

"We are examining how amylin receptor activation in an area of
the brain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) acts to suppress
intake of palatable foods and to suppress body weight, partially by
changing dopamine signaling," says Mietlicki-Baase. "Our hypothesis
is that amylin receptor activation in this nucleus has more potent
effects on fat intake so that it preferentially suppresses fat
intake compared to sucrose intake; it does both, but it could be
demonstrating a little more robust impact on fat intake."

Ultimately, Mietlicki-Baase says her research is directed at
understanding things that can be translationally relevant to the
treatment of obesity in humans.

"Right now, we do not have very many non-invasive options for
obesity treatment," explains Mietlicki-Baase. "So the goal of my
research is to understand, at the brain-level, how these different
hormones are impacting food intake and body weight with the goal of
harnessing that information to develop more effective
pharmacological therapies and potentially coupling that with
dietary recommendations to produce a more targeted and effective
therapy."

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